Erik Schoenborn - "Keystone habitat elements as a tool in the conservation of wildlife biodiversity"
"This research project was added as part of my transition to a PhD program and, as such, our funding is limited. Funds from this grant will be used to purchase field supplies and pay for travel to extend data collection efforts into 2025. This will substantially improve our sample sizes and our capacity to examine these patterns of biodiversity."
Erik Schoenborn, Ph.D. Candidate in Program in Ecology and Evoution
2024 Recipient of the Don and Judy Legerski UW Teton Graduate Scholars in Biodiversity Fellowship
Advisor: Anna Chalfoun
The aim of this project is to examine the extent to which fine-scale, keystone habitat elements (KHEs) disproportionately influence patterns of biodiversity within a sagebrush landscape. To do so, we will document the abundance and diversity of multiple taxa within and away from tall, high cover draws to determine the extent to which these features function as KHEs. Concurrently, we will evaluate the extent to which surrounding human-induced habitat changes associated with natural gas development modulate the influence of KHEs on patterns of biodiversity. Results of this work will improve our understanding of how biodiversity arises and is maintained while elucidating the extent to which human-induced rapid environmental change might influence those patterns
Share This Page
Research Highlights
